Councillor Mike Bowen, a member of the parish council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, says the village has previously witnessed fly-tipping - but never in the cemetery.

He said: “Everyone is horrified and disgusted by the actions of whoever did this. It is very low to sink to the depth of fly tipping in a cemetery. This shows that someone has no respect. Many people come to the cemetery for the peace and quiet and to respect their family or friends.

“The people who look after the cemetery grounds are also horrified by the actions. There was a quantity of slabs and garden rubbish dumped in the area. It is obvious that someone had been working on their garden and could not be bothered to take it to the tip where they may have had to pay.

“This will cost the council money to remove it. It will then have to be paid for by council tax payers which is wrong when someone has just dumped it.”

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Mr Bowen said that they would like to hear from anyone who had any information or saw anything regarding the incident.

He added: “If anyone has any information or saw anything would they please contact the parish council. If we get any information on anyone fly tipping in the community we will look at prosecution through the district council as this is not acceptable.”

A spokesperson for the district council said: “Fly tipping is irresponsible, anti-social and expensive to clean up. There is no excuse for anyone to dump their waste like this and we will always to seek to prosecute those responsible wherever possible.

"People should be aware that flytipping can attract unlimited fines and we strongly urge everyone to dispose of their waste at household tips if it’s not suitable for regular household collections – there is more information about tips on our website.”